Israel's radical leaders tempted to drag us into war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) October 31, 2011 - 12:00am

Under normal circumstances, the military establishment is to the right of the political establishment. The reason is obvious: The singer wants to sing, the writer wants to write, and the division commander wants to mobilize divisions. When Moshe Dayan said he would rather restrain galloping horses than prod lazy mules, he was not referring only to his generals. It is a common pattern on the world stage. Only rarely are the roles reversed for the military to find itself to be more moderate and circumspect than the political leadership.

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Israeli ex-soldier jailed for leaking secret papers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
October 30, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Oct 30 (Reuters) - An Israeli court sentenced a former soldier to four and a half years in prison on Sunday for leaking classified military documents to a newspaper, which later reported allegations of a policy to assassinate Palestinian militants. Anat Kamm, 24, was convicted in February of possessing and distributing secret information, after striking a plea bargain with Tel Aviv District Court, where judges agreed in exchange to drop more serious charges of harming state security.

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The IDF must not be turned into the army of the Lord
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - (Opinion) October 25, 2011 - 12:00am

The most disappointing response to the fact that 100 female soldiers were instructed to sit in a separate section during the traditional celebrations at the end of the Simhat Torah holiday last week at an Israel Defense Forces base came perhaps from a secular officer. "What's the problem? They set up a separate place for them to dance," he said. Even worse was the off-the-cuff remark of another officer, also secular, who said: "That's customary; it's what they did last year, too."

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With Shalit free, Israel should end Gaza blockade, which only boosts Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Sari Bashi - (Opinion) October 25, 2011 - 12:00am

In the past five years it was impossible to separate the Gaza siege policy from Gilad Shalit’s captivity. During these years, Israeli decision-makers, who made no progress in negotiations with Hamas, invested their efforts in formulating and implementing a policy that would express the public’s fury and frustration.

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The real threat to Israel's Jewish character
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shlomo Avineri - (Opinion) October 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel is a Jewish state - this was the international legitimacy it received in the 1947 UN Partition Plan, this is the principle underlying its Declaration of Independence, Law of Return, Citizenship Law and a long list of laws, regulations and customs. All Israeli governments, left or right, followed this, and Israel's social reality is imbued with it. After a few hours in the country, a visitor from Mars would have no difficulty realizing that he had landed in a Jewish state.

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Livni breaks ranks over prisoner exchange deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - (Analysis) October 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni yesterday broke sharply with the mainstream consensus of support for the prisoner exchange which secured abducted soldier Gilad Shalit’s release with an emphatic warning that it had strengthened Hamas and weakened Israel. Ms Livni yesterday called on the government to co-ordinate the second batch of 550 prisoner releases with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to offset a deal in which “an extreme right wing [Israeli] government has provided legitimacy for the Hamas.”

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Some Israeli citizens just refuse to accept the occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Haggai Matar - (Opinion) October 24, 2011 - 12:00am

“I personally don’t have a problem with Israelis, but for your own sake you’d better not tell others around here where you’re from,” a taxi driver said to me during my last visit to Amman. Little did it help to explain that I attend demonstrations against the Israeli occupation regularly and came to Jordan with Palestinian friends.

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Et tu, Bibi?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) October 21, 2011 - 12:00am

As Israeli staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was held captive for more than five years by Palestinian fighters in Gaza, was heading back to Israel via Egypt, he expressed hope that his safe return home would pave the way for peace in the Middle East. In a jarring interview on Egyptian television, he declared: “I really hope that this deal advances peace and not more military conflicts and wars between Israel and the Palestinians.”

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Poll: Israelis overwhelmingly support lopsided prisoner exchange for captured soldier
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Associated Press - (Analysis) October 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Israelis overwhelmingly support a lopsided prisoner swap in which 1,027 Palestinian prisoners will be released for a single captured soldier, a poll showed Monday, one day before the exchange between Israel and Hamas was slated to take place. The poll showed that 79 percent of Israelis support the deal under which the soldier, tank crewman Sgt. Gilad Schalit, will be released by the Hamas militants who have held him in Gaza for more than five years. Only 14 percent said they opposed the deal.

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The link between Shalit's release and Iran's bomb
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Sefi Rachlevsky - October 17, 2011 - 12:00am

For a determined leadership, a deal to free a kidnapped Israeli is like a candy bar waiting on the shelf. In contrast to peace and most other issues, the timing of such a deal depends entirely on Israel's leadership, and public enthusiasm is guaranteed. One word - yes - and the deal is done. It's no accident that the deal for the return of abducted businessman Elhanan Tennenbaum was orchestrated to take place on the day David Appel was indicted for bribery - a development that was supposed to have been followed by charges against then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

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